The next morning, the sky was just hazy, and the autumn wind had woken up from the dream. He put on his clothes, sat cross-legged on the bed, and according to the method taught by Liu Jun, he sent the true qi from the dantian to the seven meridians and eight veins, and when the internal force dispersed into the limbs, the whole body was warm and comfortable. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the sky was already bright. In the center of the room, a long shadow from the window stretched to the side of the bed.

Li Qiufeng was about to get up, only to hear a sound of footsteps to the door, and then heard the housekeeper of Zhang's Mansion say outside the door: "Uncle Zhu is early, my master invites you to breakfast." ”

Li Qiufeng agreed, put the blanket on his shoulder, and glanced at the room again, then went out of the house, and followed the housekeeper to the main hall in the backyard, but saw that Zhang Shi was already standing under the dripping eaves in front of the main hall. Seeing that Li Qiufeng had arrived, Zhang Shi hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Brother Zhu, how was your rest last night?"

Li Qiufeng returned the salute with his fists, and said: "In the past two days, I have been taken care of by the staff and the brothers in the house, and I am grateful." ”

Zhang Shi introduced Li Qiufeng into the hall, and the two chatted while eating. After eating, the housekeeper had already prepared the carriage and horses, and asked Zhang Shi and Li Qiufeng to go to the dock. Zhang Shi's wife and children were sent outside the mansion, and they watched the carriage and horses disappear outside the stone workshop, so they returned in a hurry.

Zhang Shi and Li Qiufeng sat in the carriage, and after a pillar of incense, they had already arrived at the dock. When the two of them arrived at Qin Lao Wu's boat, they saw that Shopkeeper Hu and others had already arrived, and they were gathering on the dock to chat. Zhang Shi, Li Qiufeng, Shopkeeper Hu and others greeted each other, but they heard Shopkeeper Hu say: "Outside Zhang, Lao Qin said that this trip is too far, and the number of people on the big ship is limited, so we are not allowed to bring servants with us." However, this trip is a transaction with the Fuso people, and it is necessary to bring a shrewd bookkeeper. We discussed it last night, and the bookkeeper of the white shopkeeper's house is the most shrewd, so we might as well let him go with us, and then write and calculate, and leave it to him. It's just that Lao Qin is too stubborn, I'm afraid that if we talk to him, he won't agree. Zhang Yuanwai and Lao Qin have been friends for many years, so we want to ask Yuanwai to mediate and let this bookkeeper go to sea with us. ”

Shopkeeper Hu said as he pointed to a man in black standing behind everyone. I saw that this person was thin, about forty years old, with a fair complexion, and a bit of elegance. Zhang Shi looked him up and down, and said, "This gentleman is very faceless." ”

The man in black arched his hand and said, "Student Xiao Dong, I have seen Zhang Yuanwai. The students have always been in charge of the accounts of the white shopkeeper and rarely walk outside. Today is the first time to come to Ningbo City, please take care of Zhang Yuanwai. ”

Zhang Shi nodded, and said, "It's easy to say, it's easy to say." It's just that although he didn't refuse, there was a look of embarrassment on his face. Shopkeeper Hu was worried, glanced at Xiao Dong, and then said to Zhang Shi: "Zhang Yuanwai, isn't there anything difficult to do?"

Zhang Shi pondered for a moment, and then said: "Shopkeeper Hu, Lao Qin doesn't allow us to bring our servants with us, and he doesn't mean to embarrass us. This trip to Fuso is completely different from the previous trading on a small offshore island, and I don't know how many thousands of miles we have to go. In addition to carrying goods, the ship also had to carry enough water, rice, flour and vegetables. If you bring too many people, not only will the weight increase, but the consumption of food and water will also increase. In this way, if there is an accident on the sea, everyone will have no basis for advancing and retreating, and it will be inconvenient......"

When Zhang Shi said this, he glanced at Xiao Dong again, and then said: "I tried my best to convince Lao Qin, but I am not sure whether he can agree or not. ”

When the shopkeeper Hu saw Zhang Shi like this, he thought to himself, damn it, it's just one more person, what's so difficult? You are so pretentious, you just want to knock us out a sum of money. Thinking of this, Shopkeeper Hu took out a silver ticket from his arms, handed it to Zhang Shi, and said: "Zhang Yuanwai, we know that if we add one person, we will definitely spend some silver." This silver ticket you brought to Lao Qin is considered the cost of Mr. Xiao's boat. If it's not enough, let Lao Qin just say it. ”

Zhang Shi was happy when he saw that Shopkeeper Hu handed over a silver ticket of two hundred taels of silver, but he didn't immediately reach out to take the silver ticket, but frowned and said, "Shopkeeper Hu, what do you mean by this? Zhang is not asking you for silver, it is really difficult to do." This is different from chartering a boat, and it is not something that can be settled by spending more money. ”

Shopkeeper Hu came to Zhang Shi's side, stuffed the silver into Zhang Shi's hand, and said with a smile: "For others, this matter may be a little difficult to do. But isn't it a piece of cake for you to go out on horseback? Please ask Zhang Yuan to do us another favor. ”

Shopkeeper Hu said as he stuffed the silver ticket into Zhang Shi's hand. Zhang Shi took the silver ticket and pretended to be helpless and said, "Okay, then I'll be cheeky and go to the ring with Lao Qin again." ”

Zhang Shi said this, turned his head to look at the bow of the boat. But there was no one on the ship, but a square table was placed in the bow of the ship, and three sacrifices were placed on the table. Shopkeeper Hu said: "Lao Qin hasn't shown up yet, and just a few boatmen have put out the sacrifices. Our luggage is on the dock and can be moved up in a moment. ”

Zhang Shi said: "Lao Qin is the most disciplined, and a few shopkeepers will wait here for a while. When the hour comes, he will naturally let us aboard. ”

Shopkeeper Song said on the side: "The rules of boatmen who sail on the sea are completely different from those who sail on the river. However, these people are all begging for a living on the cusp of the storm, and they all rely on the Dragon King to enjoy food, and it is not surprising that there are more rules. A few years ago, I went to Lingnan to sell medicinal herbs, and I went to a place called Lu Gongling. There is a stream that leads to the inside of the mountain. In the inaccessible places in the deep mountains, there is a strange grass, called dragon head grass, which has the miraculous effect of stopping bleeding. It's just that if you want to go deep into the mountains to collect medicine, you can only take a small boat along the stream into the mountains. The stream seems to have a soothing current, but the undercurrent is turbulent, and if you are not careful, you will be swept under the undercurrent, and no matter how good the water is, you will not be able to escape. It's just that the dragon head grass is a rare strange grass in the world, and one plant can be sold for five taels of silver. Although the risk is extremely high, there is an endless stream of people who go to find the dragon head grass. The local natives also know that the dragon head grass can be sold for a large price, and they don't know where they learned the evil arts, whenever they want to go into the deep mountains to dig the dragon head grass, they will kill a person by the stream and sacrifice to the water god, and then put the boat into the stream, often able to return safely. It's just that they don't kill people to sacrifice to the gods, but sneak out of the mountains, take advantage of people's unpreparedness, abduct and kidnap children to come back, and serve as live animals to sacrifice to the sky. Alas, these rules do not know whether they are true or false, but they are true to the common people. ”

Shopkeeper Song's voice fell, and Shopkeeper Yin sneered on the side: "Old Song, don't say this to Lao Qin." Otherwise, he will definitely think that you are shouting and sneering, at least accusing Sang of scolding Huai and humiliating you, and at worst driving you off the ship, you will not be able to make this deal!"

When everyone was talking, they saw Qin Lao Wu walk up to the bow of the boat, arched his hand to everyone, and said, "Let you wait for a long time." Let's put down the planks and ask the shopkeepers to get on board. ”

After Qin Lao Wu finished speaking, he immediately stepped aside. Several boatmen carried long planks to the dock. Zhang Shi asked the shopkeeper Hu to get on the boat first, and the shopkeeper Hu pushed and said: "Mr. Xiao's matter still needs to trouble the staff to talk to Lao Qin, so I should also ask Zhang Yuanwai to get on the boat first." ”

Zhang Shi no longer shirked, greeted Li Qiufeng, and immediately stepped onto the board. Li Qiufeng followed behind him and stepped onto the big boat step by step. After boarding the deck, Zhang Shi pulled Qin Lao Wu aside and said in a low voice: "Old Qin, Hu Shopkeeper, they want to take one more person to Fusang." ”

Qin Lao Wuyi was stunned and said: "We have a fixed amount of water and food, and if there is one more person, I am afraid that it will be inconvenient." ”

Zhang Shi sneered and said, "The old man said that that person is the bookkeeper of the white shopkeeper's house." Actually, I know this person. He is the person in charge of the Firearms Bureau who secretly corresponds with Lao Hu and others these days. This person hides his identity and wants to walk with us, he must have another purpose. He is determined to walk with us, and we will definitely not be able to stop him. Maybe he is the owner of the goods behind Lao Hu and the others, and he deliberately wants to follow us and monitor our every move. But it's okay for this person to go with us, Lao Hu and they don't dare to fight our idea. Fang Cai Lao Hu gave an extra two hundred taels of silver, which was counted as this person's fare. We will not take this silver for nothing, but let us add two to five and take a hundred taels each. I don't know what you think?"

Qin Lao Wu saw that Shopkeeper Hu and the others were about to come to the boat, so he had to nod and said, "Since Zhang Yuanwai spoke, I had to agree." It's just that someone has to get off the boat again to buy some rice and noodles, just in case. ”